Frustrated Moyes ready to go shopping

Everton manager David Moyes has endured “the most frustrating summer” of his career, failing to sign a single player.

Moyes, whose team beat promoted West Brom 2-1 in the Barclays Premier League at The Hawthorns on Saturday, insists he is not joking when he claims he wants to bring in up to seven new faces before the transfer window closes on September 1.

David Moyes

A patched up Everton side gained a fortunate win thanks to second-half goals from Leon Osman and Ayegbeni Yakubu, and Moyes said: “I’ve never had a more frustrating summer.”

“We came fifth, and a lot of clubs look at Everton as the right way to do things. We’ve not spent massively to finish fifth. We have progressed every year,” he added.

“This is the first summer where I feel I have not made any progression. I don’t need to buy mid-Premier League players; I need to buy top players to challenge the top teams – and that costs big money.

“Why is there a problem getting people in? It is a bit of everything. We’ve got all these injuries, and I want to sign six or seven players before next week.

“I’m going to try to do something but I can’t say for sure that it is going to happen. All you can see is that it is not helping things, through not having brought in new blood.”

Albion manager Tony Mowbray refused to be downcast, after his side had slumped to their second successive league defeat.

He said: “There was plenty of good play from us. We controlled things for the vast amount of time.

“The team looked as if it could go on and win, but in a five-minute spell we conceded two goals. Maybe that is the difference at this level. We have got to learn very quickly but we showed we can compete in this league.”